Mystery on the Excelsior - Chapter Two

[Bob]

Mystery on the Excelsior

Chapter Two - Disaster

The Excelsior is going at a comfortable cruising speed. On the bridge, the night crew are monitoring the situation.

"Okay, here's a question for you. You're stuck on a desert island, and you can only bring one thing. What do you bring?" Pierce asks.

"That's easy! I'd bring you!"  Jason replies.

"No, no, you can't bring me. It's got to be a thing."

Before Jason can reply, the ship suddenly and violently exits FTL drive, sending everything flying.

"What the hell?!"

"I can't see anything!"

Across the ship, the passengers are thrown from their beds or chairs as the ship loses power. Shortly thereafter, the emergency lights go on.

"What's going on up here, you two?" Captain Bennett asks.

"We don't know, Captain. We're dead in space!" Jason replied.

"Let's get down to engineering. We'll meet Gabriella there."

Meanwhile...

The passengers assemble in the main lounge, having been rudely awakened by the sudden jolt out of FTL.

"Please calm down everyone! We'll get this situation under control as soon as possible." Arthur said.

---

Welcome to the second chapter! You may now take actions as related to rule 5. Currently missing from the group are Captain Amelia Bennett (Shadows), Gabriella Palmer (Hinckley), Jason Falcon, Pierce Foster, Alfie Peck, and Ezra Parry. These people may not post until I say they can.

Players:

Crew:

Captain Amelia Bennett - Played by Shadows

Noah Baker, chef - Played by Kristel

Arthur Allan, steward - Played by Waterbrick Down

Gabriella Palmer, engineer - Played by Hinckley

Passengers:

George Dawson, businessman - Played by Lind Whisperer

Emily Dawson, lawyer - Played by jimmynick

Jack Mallory, author - Played by KotZ

Dr. Logan Frost, psychiatrist - Played by Fugazi

Charlotte Sawyer, regional politician - Played by Pandora

Sophie Young, lecturer - Played by Darkdragon

Charlie Seymour, zoologist - Played by Tariq j

Oliver Hudson, artist - Played by Trekkie99

NPCs:

Jason Falcon, helmsman

Pierce Foster, navigator

Alfie Peck, passenger

Ezra Parry, passenger

Rules

1) Every player has received a character with a backstory and information that may be exclusive to them knowing. You can feel free to roleplay the character and flesh them out more. Mystery games are often primarily role-playing games, don’t forget that. There is no such thing as a “fluff post” or anything to the like. Throw out any conceptions you have used in mafia games. Feel free to make the character yours beyond what I've given.

2) There is no voting of players in this game. Providing something extreme, all twelve characters will last until the end of the game, at which time they must attempt to “solve” the mystery. You win if you are able to correctly solve the mystery, or if you get close enough to do so. This will happen in the final chapter of the game. You’ll receive several questions and then you have to answer them and explain. If you get it right, you win. If not, well…

3) A chapter will last as long as necessary for the story with no given or set end time. This is, of course, different to mafia games where days last about 72 hours. Keep in mind that mystery games often run longer than mafia games. If you commit to signing up and playing, make sure you can participate for at least a few months.

4) There is no PMing in the game without my permission. For example, you can say “I wish to speak to this person privately” and I may give you approval to do so.

5) You must search for clues. The room that you enter will be described to you and will also usually have a photo to accompany the description. This means that clues typically won’t be out in the open for you to see. If you want to search a room or area for clues, you cannot type:

               “I want to look for suspicious or hidden objects in this room."

Rather, you must specify what you want to do. For example:    

               “I want to open the drawers of the cabinet.”

You can only submit one action at a time until I reply to it, but anyone can request a search of something at the same time as you. For example, if you ask for a search of a closet, you must wait until I reply to it to submit another action. However other players can request searches of other parts of the room.

6) Please don’t edit your posts. There’s no real penalty to it, but it might make you look more suspicious and I would appreciate not doing so. If you’re worried about a typo, double check your post.

7) Do not talk about the game outside of the threads!

8) This is still a game of deception. Players have things that they wish to hide. If you have any questions about your character, feel free to ask via PM!

9) Make sure any actions that you take are in italics and on a separate line so I can see them. If I miss it for some reason, just quote it and yell at me in another post.

10) When it’s time to end the chapter, you can decide where you’d like to go next in the form of a vote. Voting will last 24 hours strictly. The location with the most votes will win. You’ll be given a map/layout of the ship as well as some choices that you can explore. You can always return to a previous location if you wish.

11) I know we'll all be good rule-followers, but I'll ask everyone to adhere to these rules. Breaking them too frequently could see you removed from the game

[jimmynick]

Emily rolls her eyes, saying to nobody in particular that "Gabriella should have spent less time drinking and bragging about FTL maintenance and more time actually maintaining the FTL drive." She squints and casts her gaze around the room.

"Most of the furniture has taken a spill but that 4x6 tan coffee table hasn't moved at all. There was a teapot on it last night during drinks but that's gone now. I'd like to kneel down, waggle my bum in the air for George's benefit, and examine what is under said coffee table."

[Bob]

55 minutes ago, jimmynick said:

Emily rolls her eyes, saying to nobody in particular that "Gabriella should have spent less time drinking and bragging about FTL maintenance and more time actually maintaining the FTL drive." She squints and casts her gaze around the room.

"Most of the furniture has taken a spill but that 4x6 tan coffee table hasn't moved at all. There was a teapot on it last night during drinks but that's gone now. I'd like to kneel down, waggle my bum in the air for George's benefit, and examine what is under said coffee table."

The coffee table is one of the only pieces of furniture in the lounge that is secured to the floor, which is why it didn’t move. There’s broken pieces of glass and various spilled liquids from the bar underneath the table, as well as some other debris. You can’t see anything useful or important besides that. 

[jimmynick]

“Oh, that’s a bit disappointing. In that case I’d like to smash the lamp sitting on top of the coffee table to ascertain whether it contains any hidden clues.”

[Waterbrick Down]

"Please Mrs. Dawson, there's been enough damage already." Arthur begins counting the passengers. "Damn it. Mr. Mallory, Dr. Seymour, would one or both of you be so kind as to check in with Mr. Parry and Mr. Peck, they seem to be missing."

Arthur tries one of the comms. "Captain Bennett, Engineer Palmer, anyone? Is everything alright?"

[Bob]

37 minutes ago, jimmynick said:

“Oh, that’s a bit disappointing. In that case I’d like to smash the lamp sitting on top of the coffee table to ascertain whether it contains any hidden clues.”

You smash the lamp that fell over. There's no hidden clues inside of it that you can see, but there's now more glass and debris on the floor.

31 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

"Please Mrs. Dawson, there's been enough damage already." Arthur begins counting the passengers. "Damn it. Mr. Mallory, Dr. Seymour, would one or both of you be so kind as to check in with Mr. Parry and Mr. Peck, they seem to be missing."

Arthur tries one of the comms. "Captain Bennett, Engineer Palmer, anyone? Is everything alright?"

Internal ship communications do not seem to have been fixed yet, as there's no answer.

[Kristel]

The passengers are all looking towards Arthur, while Chef Baker looks in another direction.

"What am I looking at?"

[Tariq j]

Good Lord is everyone alright! Gave me quite a fright. I don’t think Colin should come in due to all the glass scattered all over the floor. 

 

 

 

 

[jimmynick]

Emily picks through the glass and ceramic shards now strewn across the coffee table. "Arthur, it's very kind of you to think of the Captain and Gabriella. I had assumed they could take care of themselves but I suppose that's a bit rude of me to think."

10 minutes ago, Tariq j said:

I don’t think Colin should come in due to all the glass scattered all over the floor.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Seymour."

Emily presses the power button on the TV behind Charlotte, hoping the power is on and wondering whether a mysterious U.N. Owen will make an appearance to torment us.

[Bob]

1 hour ago, Kristel said:

The passengers are all looking towards Arthur, while Chef Baker looks in another direction.

"What am I looking at?"

You're looking towards your kitchen. 

[Kristel]

34 minutes ago, Bob said:

You're looking towards your kitchen. 

"Is there anything in the kitchen that shouldn't be there?"

[Trekkie99]

3 hours ago, Bob said:

various spilled liquids from the bar underneath the table

"Any good whisky left under here?" Searches for a stiff one.

[Bob]

1 hour ago, Kristel said:

"Is there anything in the kitchen that shouldn't be there?"

You can't tell too well from a distance, however the kitchen looks just as disorganized as the lounge and in a state of disaster too.

1 hour ago, Trekkie99 said:

"Any good whisky left under here?" Searches for a stiff one.

Oliver takes out the straw that he keeps on him at all times and starts to drink off the floor.

[Trekkie99]

"What kinda view do we got out here egh?" Stumbles towards window and looks to see what's out there.

[Bob]

17 minutes ago, Trekkie99 said:

"What kinda view do we got out here egh?" Stumbles towards window and looks to see what's out there.

There's a lot of stars out there. The Excelsior is currently in open space between the Sol System and the Alpha Centauri system. If Oliver is good with stars, he may be able to pinpoint the exact location.

Captain Bennett and Gabriella Palmer have rejoined the party. They can now post here freely. 

[Trekkie99]

32 minutes ago, Bob said:

however the kitchen looks just as disorganized as the lounge and in a state of disaster too.

"Anyone wanna join me to raid the kitchen for olives and cheese? Probably some fun stuff hiding in the cupboards."

Oi Cap and Gabi! Where you lot been? 

 Spins around to check if that cool dragon shield is sill in the other corner of the room

[Hinckley]

Gabriella blushes when she notices all eyes are on her. Not accustomed to being the center of attention, she stammers a bit before addressing the passengers and crew.

"The FTL drive was momentarily taken offline. This is what caused the sudden lurch which caused all of our drinks to be spilled. I was able to get the FTL drive running again and all systems are online and operational. The safety of our passengers is our top priority and we've run the necessary diagnostic checks to ensure the shutdown didn't have a negative effect on any of the ship's systems. The shutdown only affected the lights and sensors. We don't know who triggered this shutdown, but we will find out."

Gabriella would like to look at the newspaper on the floor to see if there are any interesting articles in it, regarding any of the ship's passengers or crew. She would also like to search the cubbies in the room divider. Once she has checked out those two things, she would like to check the local memory on the lounge's terminal to see if any files have been uploaded.

"Arthur, can you please get me the ship's strongest coffee, stat? Thank you."

Gabriella looks around the lounge at all the damage, feeling lucky that it wasn't worse.

"Arthur, what rank were you in the UEN? What was your specialty?"

Gabriella does a passenger count.

"Fucking-A. Where are Alfie and Ezra? Were they in their cabins when the drive shut down? Please tell me someone thought to do a safety check on them. The sudden deceleration could've caused them serious injury!"

Gabriella would like to access the lounge's terminal again to link to Ezra's cabin. Gabriella would like to access the lounge's terminal again to link to Alfie's cabin.

[Trekkie99]

36 minutes ago, Hinckley said:

The sudden deceleration could've caused them serious injury!"

Yeah I'd imgaine depending on which way your bed be facing your head'd be in your big behind right now.

And you'd probably done sh!t your organs across da room.

[Hinckley]

31 minutes ago, Trekkie99 said:

Yeah I'd imgaine depending on which way your bed be facing your head'd be in your big behind right now.

And you'd probably done sh!t your organs across da room.

Gabriella's head snaps in Oliver's pretentious direction.

"Oh? You'd imagine, would you? And where were you when the ship suddenly decelerated? Was your head up your ass? Or did you shit your organs across the room? Or did you somehow brace for the impact? While you were imagining what it would be like, I was getting my ribs bruised against my sink. Where were you?"

[Waterbrick Down]

2 hours ago, Hinckley said:

Gabriella blushes when she notices all eyes are on her. Not accustomed to being the center of attention, she stammers a bit before addressing the passengers and crew.

"The FTL drive was momentarily taken offline. This is what caused the sudden lurch which caused all of our drinks to be spilled. I was able to get the FTL drive running again and all systems are online and operational. The safety of our passengers is our top priority and we've run the necessary diagnostic checks to ensure the shutdown didn't have a negative effect on any of the ship's systems. The shutdown only affected the lights and sensors. We don't know who triggered this shutdown, but we will find out."

Gabriella would like to look at the newspaper on the floor to see if there are any interesting articles in it, regarding any of the ship's passengers or crew. She would also like to search the cubbies in the room divider. Once she has checked out those two things, she would like to check the local memory on the lounge's terminal to see if any files have been uploaded.

"Arthur, can you please get me the ship's strongest coffee, stat? Thank you."

Gabriella looks around the lounge at all the damage, feeling lucky that it wasn't worse.

"Arthur, what rank were you in the UEN? What was your specialty?"

Gabriella does a passenger count.

"Fucking-A. Where are Alfie and Ezra? Were they in their cabins when the drive shut down? Please tell me someone thought to do a safety check on them. The sudden deceleration could've caused them serious injury!"

Gabriella would like to access the lounge's terminal again to link to Ezra's cabin. Gabriella would like to access the lounge's terminal again to link to Alfie's cabin.

Arthur notes that the espresso machine seems beyond repair for the time being and settles for the Keurig. After finally managing to make a cup he hands it to Gabriella, "Lieutenant, communications deck. I asked for Mr. Mallory and Dr. Seymour to check in on Mr. Peck and Parry, but they might be a little shaken up still. Now that you and the captain are here to keep order, I'll go check on them."

Arthur address the rest of the passengers, "Ladies and gentlemen, I shall return momentarily. In the meantime, please address any of your questions to Captain Bennett or Gen... Engineer Palmer."

Arthur goes to check on Mr. Peck and Parry.

[Hinckley]

30 minutes ago, Waterbrick Down said:

Arthur goes to check on Mr. Peck and Parry.

Gabriella swigs her coffee.

"I should join you. None of the crew should travel alone while someone has messed with the sensors. Maybe while we check on Misters Peck and Perry, you can answer those questions you ignored."

Gabriella joins Arthur, if he likes it or not.

[KotZ]

"Well this is certainly a problem," Mallory harrumphed. "I should have put hair on the other doors. Perhaps I'd know where to look then for who or whatever has done this. I do need a stiff drink though."

[Hinckley]

11 minutes ago, KotZ said:

"Well this is certainly a problem," Mallory harrumphed. "I should have put hair on the other doors. Perhaps I'd know where to look then for who or whatever has done this. I do need a stiff drink though."

Gabriella, before following Arthur out of the lounge, heavily rolls her eyes at Jack. The severity of the situation has minimized any sense of Blue Star customer relations training Gabriella had in her.

"You don't need to put hair on the doors, dumbass. The ship has sensors...oh, but someone messed with them. You know what, stuffy guy? You're smarter than you look. Put hair on all the doors, stat. You know what, on second thought, your hair looks old and frail. Take some of mine."

Gabriella finds the paring knife for the citrus behind the bar and removes a huge swath of hair from her beautifully quaffed hair bagel and hands it to the pretentious author bitch.

"Use gaffers tape to secure it to every cabinet, door and drawer that you have access to. Wait the fuck a minute. Why don't we just use the gaffers tape?"

Gabriella hands Mr. Mallory her roll of gaffers tape and takes her hair back.

"Give me a strip of that so I can tape my hair back in place, please."

Gruffly turning to follow Arthur, she stops and turns back to Jack.

"Good thinking, civilian. Thank you."

[Shadows]

*addressing the group* "I do hope you'll forgive Engineer Palmer's, well, slightly abrasive attitude. I think it's that brainslug she tries to call hair, it looks uncomfortable."

"I think I might need to start drinking..."

"Seriously though, that thing ... I think I saw it in an old scifi holovid called The Trouble with Triboniophorus Tyrannus."

[Hinckley]

18 minutes ago, Shadows said:

*addressing the group* "I do hope you'll forgive Engineer Palmer's, well, slightly abrasive attitude. I think it's that brainslug she tries to call hair, it looks uncomfortable."

"I think I might need to start drinking..."

"Seriously though, that thing ... I think I saw it in an old scifi holovid called The Trouble with Triboniophorus Tyrannus."

"It's standard Blue Star Engineer hair regulation. I didn't choose this shit."